As HIV/AIDS continues to affect black people more than any other ethnic group in the U.S. and around the world, we have seen some amazing advocates rise out of this troubling epidemic. To honor that work, we want to highlight some amazing leaders whose tireless work continues to inspire us all.

In 2011, Michelle Anderson achieved a great feat: Not only was she crowned Miss Plus America, but she became the first woman living with HIV/AIDS to do so. The title is a far cry from where her life was almost a decade ago, when she was addicted to drugs and learned of her status in a treatment facility in 1999.

"I thought I was going to die," Michelle recalls. "Life would be over." Instead, "I was able to empower myself. Getting tested saved my life."

And empowering others as a means to save and better their lives is exactly what she's been doing. Over the past few years, Michelle has been a fearless HIV/AIDS advocate, especially in her home state of Texas, where black women bear the brunt of this epidemic. In addition to her work for the Afiya Center for HIV Prevention and Sexual Reproductive Justice in Dallas, she also serves as co-chair for Campaign to End AIDS Texas, and travels across the country talking about her own personal experiences as a sexual abuse survivor and how that abuse impacted her own self-worth, putting her further at risk for HIV.

Christine Campbell, Vice President of National Advocacy and Organizing, Housing Works, New York

Christine Campbell has spent more than 10 years dedicated to running programs for people living with HIV/AIDS. At Housing Works, she teams with other national organizations to advocate for changes in policy that will better serve people living with HIV/AIDS. With no signs of slowing down, Christine is galvanizing support for relifting the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs. She also helped launch AIDSVote 2012, a tool that educates political candidates and voters on which policies most impact the HIV community. No matter what the initiative, Christine looks to include housing as a means to improve health outcomes of those living with HIV: "Any successful strategy to end AIDS will include housing." And as AIDS 2012 gets closer, she is working with President Obama's administration to update plans on implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Her overall message is to speak up: "I have found that in this current climate, our friends need to hear from us not only in their offices but also publicly. My hope for advocacy is that many of us will be bold and public in our call for an end to AIDS."

Michael T. Everett, Team Leader of the Capacity Building Assistance Program, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York

"Harm reduction" is a way of dealing with risky behavior to lessen the potential damage done to the individual and the surrounding community. Yet there are so many misconceptions about what harm reduction means, and who it can serve. Most times it's believed to be solely about drug use, which can play into why some communities reject the notion immediately.

Enter Michael Everett. His work at the Harm Reduction Coalition -- a national organization that works with service providers, policymakers and activists to integrate harm reduction practices into their work -- challenges the stigma around harm reduction, and helps communities see how it can work for them. "The people of color in my community -- teachers, young people, politicians and parents -- are oftentimes already stigmatized as drug users and have, therefore, worked hard to be disassociated with any perceived promotion of drug use," Everett explains. Ever since he was first exposed to harm reduction principles through his advocacy work, which has largely been focused on HIV/AIDS, Everett has worked to find ways to share these principles for what they do best -- promote the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by the war on drugs.

Nowadays, he gets to work directly with organizations all over the U.S. -- like Brotherhood Inc. in New Orleans and Bronx AIDS Services in New York City -- to use harm reduction principles to their benefit. He also works with groups to apply these principles not only to the kinds of work they do around drug use, but to the ways their organizations work -- identifying potential harms in how their staffs interact with one another and with the communities they serve, so they can do their work in a healthier, more empowering way for all involved. Read more of what Everett has to say about "harm reduction for agencies" in a fascinating article from the publication Harm Reduction Communication.

During her 2009 speech at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., AIDS activist Angela Green said, "You can pass out all the condoms and literature in the world, but unless a person feels whole, unless we love and care for ourselves, unless we see ourselves as viable human beings, the numbers [of HIV cases] will keep rising."

This statement is fitting, especially since the crux of Angela's work -- be it at her organization in San Francisco or traveling across the country -- is grounded in the notion of self-love and self-care, especially in terms of women.

Iris House provides a range of integrated low-cost or free services to local women that include substance abuse counseling, support groups for women living with HIV/AIDS, parenting skills and LGBT-related services. Angela started off as the center's director of HIV Prevention & Treatment Services, and in 2007 was promoted to executive director. Under her direction, Iris Center has had a huge impact, serving hundreds of people each year. In 2011, Iris Center implemented Project KIDS (Keeping Independent Decisions Supreme), which helps African-American women 13 to 18 years of age make smart choices surrounding sex, HIV and reproductive health. This year the center is looking to add HIVspecific services in mental health for their clients.

Keith Green, diagnosed at age 17, is an established spoken word artist, community journalist, educator, activist and advocate, among many other things. A frequent contributor to TheBody.com, Keith currently leads advocacy efforts at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, monitoring and making sure the government implements the National HIV/AIDS Strategy promptly and effectively.

Keith also teaches social welfare policy and research courses at Northeastern Illinois University, and is a founding member and current co-chair of the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus, an organization dedicated to preventing new HIV infections by mobilizing and empowering black men who have sex with men. He is also the project director for two prevention studies conducted by Stroger Hospital of Cook County in Chicago.

Prior to joining AIDS Foundation Chicago, Keith was the associate editor for Test Positive Aware Network's publication Positively Aware, and has been doing HIV outreach for about 10 years. He is a constant voice leading the efforts against HIV and shows no sign of stopping: "It's imperative that black gay men be present and active in this fight."

When this Georgetown Law graduate and former Ford Foundation Policy Fellow isn't in her Harlem office, she is traveling around the U.S. raising awareness for a range of issues that impact women living with HIV/AIDS.

For Positive Women's Network, a project of WORLD, one of Brook Kelly's main responsibility is training HIV-positive women on how to be effective advocates not only for themselves, but for other women living with HIV/AIDS. She is also one of the founders of "30 for 30," a national campaign that ensures the unique needs of women living with and affected by HIV, including transgender women, are a priority. "30 for 30" especially focuses on disparities in prevention and care services for black and Latina women who make up the majority of women living with HIV in the U.S.Brook's impact doesn't stop there: Along with writing for many publications and journals, she chairs the Positive Justice Project's committee on Constituency Outreach. With the help of Beirne Roose-Snyder and Vanessa Johnson, the three mobilize HIV-positive women from across the country in anti-HIV criminalization advocacy in order to educate others about discriminatory HIV exposure and transmission laws and to encourage state legal reform.

Kali Lindsey, diagnosed at 23, is one of the busiest and hardest working HIV advocates today. In addition to being co-chair of numerous committees, his work at the National Minority AIDS Council includes working with national and regional partners to influence health care reform that will provide better access to care for people, especially black MSM.

He is a strong voice for prevention efforts, and was recently an adviser to the Centers for Disease Control during development of "Testing Makes Us Stronger," a national campaign promoting HIV testing among black gay and bisexual men.
Housing is also a major issue that Kali wants to tackle: "We are not going to end the epidemic without addressing access to safe and affordable housing among the poor and people living with HIV or AIDS."

As for what's to come, he says, "My hopes for the future include unprecedented leadership and collaboration between the community, private industry and government to do whatever it takes to end the United States' struggle with this persistent epidemic. We are going to have to assess everything that we are doing and how we are doing it, and be bold."

When is a health center not just a health center? When it puts social justice at the center of wellness. Women's Health in Women's Hands (WHIWH), headed by author and social worker Notisha Massaquoi, is just such an organization. Dedicated to serving black women and women of color in the Toronto area -- and home to the only support group for HIV-positive black women in Ontario -- WHIWH doesn't just provide primary care, mental health and HIV/AIDS services and health promotion activities. It's been involved in numerous participatory research projects designed to gather scientific knowledge on the populations it serves, as well as facilitate meetings with policymakers, service providers and community members.

In 2007, WHIWH co-produced The Woman I Have Become, a documentary film chronicling the lives of eight women of African and Caribbean descent living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto. It has been used for education throughout Canada. The organization also serves on the governing council for the African Black Diaspora Global Network on HIV and AIDS, a coalition of organizations committed to strengthening the HIV response among affected black communities.

Massaquoi herself writes and teaches about HIV/AIDS and black women of the Diaspora, access to primary health care for women of color, and health promotion strategies for people of color in Canada.

Smith has worked to ensure that HIV clinical trials enroll more women and people of color, as chair of the Underrepresented Populations Committee of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and that more people of color get into and stay in HIV medicine by helping to establish the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA)'s Minority Clinical Fellowship Program. Her accomplishments have won her many honors, to be sure -- but only a direct colleague can speak to the ways her commitment translates to her patients. As Bethsheba Johnson, G.N.P.-B.C., A.A.H.I.V.S., who worked directly under Smith's supervision during her pre-doctoral work at Rush University Medical Center, remembers: "She exemplified HIV knowledge and an abundance of compassion with healthy doses of empathy. She hugged patients who needed a hug, dried tears and gave encouragement as well as a 'come to Jesus' talk when necessary for the most stubborn patients. ... Her passion for her work is truly evident in addressing the work that still needs to be done in HIV/AIDS not only for African Americans and women, but for everyone."

Patrick Wilson, Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York

With HIV rates among young black MSM on the rise, Patrick Wilson's research focusing on HIV risk, prevention and sexuality is invaluable. Throughout the years, he has explored a range of topics including how sexual abuse, poverty, social networking and discrimination collide with HIV prevention.

Some of his standout work includes the 2011 research project and campaign "You&Me."

This joint project conducted by San Francisco State University, the University of California at San Francisco and Columbia University looks at same-sex relationships not only among black MSM but also interracial couples -- a topic largely ignored by researchers -- and tries to better understand the types of negotiations and decisions that affect their sexual health.

Wilson also has his eye on the role that black churches could play in HIV prevention among MSM. In a recent paper published in Global Public Health, Wilson addressed the homophobia in the black church and proposed certain strategies the church could adopt in order to address sexuality in a productive and affirming way that engages MSM.

Hopefully the church is listening.

This article was provided by TheBody.com.
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